Memoirs of a Generally Bitter Young Woman
"The highs and lows of life"
Nonsensical stories interlaced with tidbits of truth, irony and poetry.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Eating with Liz 2012 - Taco Soup

Dinner with the Evans'. Something quick and easy for feeding hungry people.

Yes, this is another Emeals.com recipe, but what did you expect. I haven't been feeling very food adventurous lately if I have the desire/energy to cook anything at all. But this was rather good. Just as good as getting Taco Soup from anywhere else that uses silly ingredients and tastes just like this canned masterpiece

TIME SAVER TIP: Brown your hamburger with a little onion when you bring it home from the store, put it in freezer bags and stuff it in the freezer for later use. That way when it comes time for hamburger helper or something like this for a fast meal you just need to defrost and use, instead of defrost, brown then use. It has been so nice the last few weeks to know that I don't have to do that extra step. Last week I bought 2.57 lbs of ground beef, fried it up with some onion, and divided it into three quart sized zip close freezer bags. 2 cups each bag with a little extra left over to divide between them. Sure it may not be exact measurements for a pound of hamburger for this and a pound of hamburger for that, but with just me and John we don't need all that red meat anyway.

(I also have taken to cooking chicken and cubing the cooked chicken into bags for freezing. One day soon I'll leave whole breasts of chicken for freezing I can't believe I hadn't thought of this before.)

I tossed the block of frozen ground beef into the pot. No defrosting. It melted during the 20 minute cooking time. Just stir it once in a while to disperse the beef throughout the soup.

I used frozen corn instead of canned corn. I just think it has a better texture. I measured it by dumping it into one of the empty bean cans and then adding enough water to fill the can completely. I probably could have added a little more, but it seemed to turn out alright.

Served with Cheese (for John only L)

Tofutti Sour Cream (Yes, that's sour cream made out of Tofu)

Tortilla Chips

This also would have been tasty with Fritos.

All in all a very quick, simple, and tasty meal all within 30 minutes. Yay!

Books I Have Read

My Evil Minions

Things I've Learned/Interesting Facts:

Just because you stop at a stop light doesn't mean the car behind you will.

My husband frequently mocks me because I didn't cry at my wedding, but I cried when the Lone Gunmen died on the X-Files.
I hate being sued because as long as it's an open case I can't share the really good zingers I come up with...Sometimes I miss Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch.

Quotes I Love:

"It's not about charity, it's about justice." - Bono

"Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone. " - Mitt Romney

Up to a point, a man’s life is shaped by environment, heredity, and movements and changes in the world about him; but there comes a time when it lies within his grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of thing he wishes it to be. Everyone has it within his power to say, this I am today, this I shall be tomorrow.” - Louis L’Mour"You can't surrender to melancholy; that's too easy. Joy is a subject I go on and on about. It's one of the only emotions you can't contrive. It's impossible. Despair and anger are easier to convey. Joy is right next to happiness, which is not so interesting, and sentimentality. Great rock 'n' roll, the raw stuff, is pure joy. It's that sense of being alive, of being grateful for your pulse." - BONO"Because we live in a world where there is much harshness, hostility and meanness, there is also much need for all of us to be more merciful." - Gordon B. Hinckley